Liberation
by The Great Dane
Summary: Just a little thing I have going. Marcus Cousland is King and his eyes are set on Orlais. Orlais is in Civil War and the time for Ferelden and its allies to strike back on the empire that kicked them over several times is just right. Rating it M, not for cp. 1 but maybe for the future. Not sure how valiantly I will update this.
1. Liberation

**Liberation**

It was a marvelous day; the only little stain was the blood and sod around some of the streets. Yesterday's battle had gone just as it was supposed to – quick and somewhat clean. Of course there was resistance and it had been difficult breaching the gates, but once that feat had been accomplished Halamishiral had just been a gaping hole to walk right into. The empress had called her allies to rally at the capital so this was a most opportune time to conquer more of the southern terrains. Ah! rumors could work in his favor. Just let a few of his elven agents spread it through the capital and it would spread on its own. Just like a good cleansing fire.

"Grand-Duke Gaspar," sounded a familiar voice from behind him. He turned to find his General, Henry behind him.

"Ah, my friend! how is the city?" he asked and patted the man on his back, the thrusts ringing a hollow sound upon the heavy plate.

"It is clean, there is no sign of traps or hidden garrison, it seems half the guard force was sent to Val Royeax and the local Guard-Lieutenant didn't want to risk his men's life on behalf of an empress who abandoned them." The report Henry gave was must uplifting.

Halamshiral was a wonder. By no means impressive in architecture, the buildings far from matched those of the Arlathan elves, but the Dalish of old did have a knack for carpentry with the rare wood-sorts and their buildings were very tough.

Most of all however was the location of the city. Right in between the Dalish plain and the hidden forests under "the shade," the enormous cliff that engulfed the city, giving it protection from its behind and flanks. Supposedly the Dalish had held the Orlesian and Exhalted forces off for several weeks before succumbing to hunger and submitting to imperial rule.

A legend said that the Dalish had ancient weapons hidden inside the cliff, but no one had ever found an entrance that bend the entire way round to the underside of the ceiling, where the doors should be.

"Henry," the Duke inquired, "how does our force at Lydes fare?" Splitting their main force was a daring move, but they attempted it since their reports had told that forces from all the southern cities had been withdrawn.

Besides, the taking of these cities was hardly crucial to their campaign, they could always retreat their forces if any of them had met too much resistance and taken them both in two turns, it was only a matter of time at this point.

"No recent reports I'm afraid." Henry answered. Last they had heard that the Lydes-force had been delayed because of Darkspawn, but nothing more than a small group.

Suddenly a skinny elf came running towards them, Gaspar recognized him as one of the faster messengers, but didn't bother to remember his name. "Grand-Duke!" He gasped as he stopped in front of them and caught his breath.

Gaspar's nose twitched, something was amiss: "What is it boy?" he growled. The elf straightened up and looked at them.

"A report from Lieutenant Lareau, Jader has fallen and the forces are retreating to Lyren, reports tell of forces approaching Halamshiral." The elf inhaled heavily after saying it all in one breath.

"What?" the duke yelled, his head red with fury. "Has Celene dared an attack across the sea?"

"No my lord, the army is not Orlesian?"

"What?" The Duke's head went almost pale now, a third party? "Who?" he yelled.

"They are…" the elf hesitated, as if he was to be punished. "They are Fereldan my lord."

"Fereldan?" Henry asked, not believing the words coming from the frail man. "Ferelden would never make such a daring move, are you quite sure?"

"The report." The elf stuttered and handed a few bound pieces of paper.

Henry grabbed it and waved the courier off, sharing the sight of the content with his Duke.

"Werewolves?" He gasped. "My lord."

The Duke's eyes widened in horror. The report spoke of a nightly assault just two days ago. Werewolves climbing Jader's walls, assaulting the gate guards and opening it to a mixed force of humans and elves swiftly taking over.

"It doesn't mention Ferelsen specifically…" Henry noted.

"No one else is known to have had werewolves in their ranks Henry." The Duke started pacing around. "During the blight ten years ago the King, Marcus Cousland assembled an army unlike any ever seen. He restored the Dwarves way of making golems and conquered the southern forests for a group of werewolves he encountered."

"So he has assembled the forces of the blight again and attempt to take Orlais?"

"I met Marcus a few years ago. I have never seen so much ambition and raw charisma in any man before, and that's saying something for he is very young. When he married Queen Anora everyone thought Ferelden would go back to being complacent, but he just kept building armies and eventually rose from the prince-consort role to that of King once the Queen trusted him enough." The Duke stopped to think without his pacing disrupting him and leaned over the railing of the balcony, overlooking the city he had just conquered.

"So he has been building his forces towards this day you suspect?"

"No, I don't think he has had a target specifically, at least he did not seem to have resentment towards Orlais like Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir did. But I think that he might have leapt at the chance when reports of our war with Celene started spreading. Damnation!"

The messenger suddenly appeared, this time even paler than before. "My Duke." He almost lost his voice in the scream.

"I'm right here boy, what is it?"

"Forces- forces evberywhere!"

The Dukes pupils went wide, he grabbed the elf my the neck: "What forces? Where?" He looked out on the plains, but no one was sighted.

"Not here my Duke, everywhere."

"Be specific boy!" Henry growled.

"Nevarra has attacked Val Chevin, the new just hit. And a force mixed of the Fereldan fleet and the Free Marches armada is laying assault on every harbor in the empire. Royalties have been sighted too. King Marcus of Ferelden and King Bhelen of Orzammar has just appeared outside Montsimmard with an army of Dwarves and golems of steel and rock. The King and Queen of the united Free Marches Sebastian Vael and Marian Hawke is with the Armada laying siege on Orlais."

The Duke launched the elf into the floor, just as red as before.

"I get that Nevarra and Ferelden is not happy with orlais…" Henry noted, "but the Free Marches? I have never heard of the Marcers wanting to expand?"

"This is just the room they needed. All the former provinces of the empire have risen up and are now coming back to bite us in the ass just as we are weakest." Something clicked just then and he looked up towards Henry, then down at the flinching messenger. "Get me parchment and quill elf, I need to write." The elf swiftly ran.

"What for my liege? Are you going to call the Lydes army back?"

"That too Henry, but first I must contact Celene with these knews. If we are lucky a messenger or two might make it to Val Royeaux in time for us to unite. We cannot let Orlais fall because of our differences."

"We could not have predicted that Ferelden, Nevarra and the United Free Marches would ally against us."

"What made Orlais strong was our unity. Celene has lost that, but even if I have to surrender we have no chance if we do not unite…"

"How do you think the dwarves and the kings of Ferelden got so far wast my liege?"

"The Deep Roads. It has been rumored for years that Ferelden and a force of local Grey Wardens has aided the dwarves in retaking some of the roads and some thaigs. Apparently they reach all the way into Orlais now."

"So the dwarven empire is rising again?"

"Possibly."

The messenger arrived yet again, now with a few sheets of blank parchment and a quill. The duke yanked them from him with a low mumble and placed it on the flat railing for support. It took him a short hour to finish the letters and give the messenger instructions to their destinations.

"Who did you send for?" Henry asked.

"Celene, The Divine, Queen Anora the Viscount office in Kirkwall. Hopefully they will arrive and solve the issue before any trouble comes up. Please leave me Henry, and get those gates fixed.

* * *

They waited a day, then another. No answers, but that would have been strange too, it would take two days for a messenger to reach Orlais on horse and a week to reach Kirkwall and Denerim.

On the third day they started to hear drums; from the west: a great force of dwarven soldiers and bulky golems arrived. In the middle rode a man on a horse and a dwarf on a bronto. The Kings of Ferelden and Orzammar had arrived. After an hour you could tell the individual soldiers from one another and they had been joined by an army coming from the east. Armor-clad Werewolves and a large number of Dalish hunters along a great army of Fereldan forces too. Suddenly a large shadow fell upon them, they were gathered in the square, and out of nowhere a Dragon landed in the middle of it. A small one, but still. The stationed archers pointed arrows on it but it did not attack. A man swung himself from its neck, he wore shining silver heavy armor and had a short goatee beard.

"Grand-Duke Gaspard?" He asked. Gaspard nodded. "I am father Kolgrim, I bring you a message on behalf of the Fereldan King." The man handed him a thick letter, swung himself upon the Dragon and flew off. When they looked up they noticed that it started circling the peak of the Great Shade along with a number of other dragons.

* * *

Gaspard looked down and opened the letter, it read as follows:

_For Grand-Duke Gaspard._

_I, Marcus Cousland – King of Ferelden claim possession of Halamshiral with the intent of handing it over to my allies of the Dalish Elves. Before you get the list of recruitment I think a presentation is in order._

_I command an army of hundreds of thousands of soldiers. In this army I have direct command of forces from my own country and the werewolves of the Brecillian forest. My allies include a number of Dalish Clans, the Dwarves of the Orzammar Empire and the Free Circle of Magi of Highever. Our secondary allies from Nevarra and the United Marches are conquering the rest of Orlais as you read this._

_Currently we hold:_

_United Marches: Val Firmin, Velun and Val Foret._

_Nevarra: Val Chevin, Arlesans and Montford._

_Ferelden: Jader, Montsimmard and Verchiel._

_We have avoided your forces in Lydes and it is only a matter of time before Ghislain and Churneau fall as well as Val Royeaux._

_I ask that you surrender; I have a force with enough manpower to take Halamshiral by force five times over, but your men need not suffer an inevitable death. If you surrender we will allow you to live under the superiority of me and my allies and abide by our rules, or freely get exile to any other nation in Thedas._

_In the moment our forces are enclosing upon Val Royeaux, any ally you would have from there is about to make the same decision as you._

_Deny and die or accept and leave._

_The choice is yours._


	2. War Council

**War Council**

_Thank you for all the reviews, I did not expect this story would gain much attention, but I will attempt to continue it in a meaningful way now, please keep reviewing!_

* * *

-Two Weeks Earlier -

A sharp ray from the sun shone upon the table, almost as if the Maker wanted to point something out on the map. Marcus couldn't help but smile at the memory of Leliana and her religious talk, that he related all his religious thoughts to. It had been some years since they broke their relationship up and she returned to the divine. In the end having her on the side whilst keeping his relationship to Anora in pace had been too much trouble and his ambition had chosen for him to stay with the woman that gave him power. Ever since he had been declared full king two years back he had taken a more steady control of the armies. Each soldier received more training and better pay but he expected it to serve him well in the end.

Finally Anora showed up, she gave him a light kiss on his cheek; mostly for official display he suspected, it was not very often her lips graced his body these days without it being to quell the rumors that they were fighting.

"Are we ready to begin?" Teagan asked as he noted the Queen's arrival.

"I think so." Marcus deep voice rung over the table, making some of the other lords stand at attention. It had served him well over the years that both his voice and his charisma got a certain respect all on its own; it helped further his goals when he was negotiating. "As you all know," he started, "there is a Civil War in Orlais. I have called you all here today to discuss our relation to that."

"I would very much like to hear what you have in mind." Eric Caron stood on the opposite side of the table. He was by far the most troublesome lord among them. An Arl by title and Commander of the Grey by rank, a position he had taken over from Marcus when he had left the wardens for the throne. As much as he owed fealty to the crown like any Fereldan lord, he was still of Orlesian birth. It would have been so much easier if Alistair had just accepted the position back then, but he just wanted to follow and had escaped to Weisshaupt.

"Very well. My idea is an invasion." He answered bluntly. Eric's crossed arms dropped and he searched for eye contact with Marcus. His face was turning red in anger but he kept his tone.

"Why?" He asked simply.

"Before the blight Ferelden had been at the mercy of Orlais for many years. This is a chance for us to secure new lands and pay back on old promises. We owe the Dalish a homeland, how better to give them such than to hand their old capital back to them." He coughed.

"So it's all about the Dalish?" Arl Sighard asked.

"No, as I said we can take some cities for ourselves, gain territory, sea width and such. The south eastern coast of Orlais has excellent farmlands and the forests to the far south could also do for excellent housing for our werewolf allies." Some of the nobles shook as he mentioned their tricky allies from the Brecillian forest. Even after eight years of cooperation and swinging peace they were still uneasy about them. A growl escaped Swiftrunner who stood between Teagan and Bann Ceorlic. "Swiftrunner," he called. The beast turned his head towards him, lightly bowed. "Do you think your people could allocate to this area if we are successful. We know there have been some run-ins between them and Gwaren, it would be best if we could split entirely."

"My King," Swifrunners husky voice rumbled, "we owe you our fate, if you believe this will settle our disputes then so be it."

"My King!" Ceorlic countered, "we do not owe these werewolves any more, are you certain that you need go through this old plan of yours?" Swiftrunner hissed at his neighbor. Ceorlic was the noble that had been affected most by the werewolf population.

"Swiftrunner is here representing one of the groups that saved us in the blight my Bann," Anora's voice had cut in silencing them both. Her voice was a bit shaky though, it seemed like her trust of the beasts were not as well funded as she tried to imply.

"It's not just a promise." Marcus explained, "we cannot live together as it is, my solution eight years ago was to let the werewolves live in the southern swaps where no one else lives, but both beast and man has broken the boundaries. Our only solution is to find a place where the werewolves can live their immortal lives without clashing with us again. This requires us to find a large uninhabited area and wall it off entirely. It will be a service to both of us."

"But that is planning for another time," Anora declared. "Right now we are planning this foolish assault that my husband is intent on completing. I have only given my approval because we know that the Grand-Duke, Gaspard, only intends to take Ferelden once he has seized Orlais for himself." Some still discussion spread for a minute. Only Swiftrunner and Eric kept their mouths shut.

Marcus made a fake cough to get the attention back at him. "I suspect you wonder how we are supposed to do this."

"By all means," Arl Vaughn commented, "Ferelden has a force to be reckoned with I'm sure, but this is Orlais we are talking about. Even if we can take the southern shores and the inlands, do you really suspect that the empress will stand for it?"

"She won't have a say." Marcus answered. He turned to the opening of the tent nearby. A man with bright eyes and a white light armor came out arm-in-arm with a woman with black hair and a dark-red robe. "This," Marcus presented, "this is the King and Queen of the United Marches, better known as Marian Hawke and Sebastian Vael.

"Champion?" Teagan stuttered. The woman's look went from stern to mildly comical as she grimaced at him and gave him an awkward wave. Sebastian nodded his way as well.

"You all wondered why I one year ago lent half our fleet to the forces in Kirkwall and never got anything to show for it, yes?"

"Yes!" Eric growled. That half fleet had been under his command and he had felt very forced when the crown asked him to war on the Free Marches for them.

"Well," Marcus continued, "they blended with the Starkhaven armada and helped them seize Ostwick and Wycome, the only cities resisting the rule of their new united Sovereign. In turn King Vael has promised his aid in the assault on Orlais, we will have the whole United Marches Armada ready to assault every Orlesian harbor as we assault the cities."

"Fine, burn the harbors!" Eric snapped. "But Orlais has much stronger forces than their ships _my king_ what about them? What about the entirety of the Northern coast and the inlands? That is their strongest force."

"Solved too." Marcus grinned. "Nevarra has their own plan of assault: While we take the south and the Marches occupy the central sea, Nevarra will assault Val Chevin and make their way west. We will race for Val Royeaux. We also have allies in Andoral's Reach, all the free mages from the circles around Thedas is there. When I established the free mage school here in Highever I predicted that a confrontation of mage and chantry was coming. A confrontation our friends Queen Hawke and King Vael here was a part of." They both nodded as he mentioned them by name. "The mages will lend us their magic in return of safe harbor; I know some of them personally, one of my old companions is with them."

He took a short break, overlooking his lords, "I have presented my plan and asked for your allegiance. Tomorrow we will have the second meeting with all our allies. Tonight I will meet with my external allies as well." He took a look around the table. "You may leave."

Chatter broke out as the Arls and Banns started discussing this course of action. Ferelden had never been an invading force before.

"Swifrunner, Archmage. Your Majesties and Eric, please join me." Marcus called. He gave Anora a light pinch on her behind making her jump. She frowned and tried to hide her blush but also nodded at his departure. The werewolf, mage and two royal foreigners and the Commander of the Grey joined him.

"Who are we meeting with my king?" Archmage Thea Amell of the free Mage School asked. She had proven herself a loyal ally after he had agreed to attempt to keep the partially free school operational even after her fellow archmage, Gillian Surana, had left for Andoral's Reach.

"External allies, I thought I made myself clear."

"Any Dalish?" Swifrunner asked with a suspicious growl.

"Yes, three keepers and a lone mage Swiftrunner but they are not Zathrian."

"True, my nose just twitches with anger whenever I smell vallaslin…"

Marcus chuckled at the comment and led the way, they were going to meet on a hill outside Highever.


	3. A Meeting in the Dark

**A Meeting in the Dark**

_People seemed to like the bit of attention placed on Anora and Marcus, so I might write a bit more based on their relationship in a coming chapter. For now we will continue from last chapter._

* * *

They had walked for a good ten minutes already; they would soon be on the hill. It wasn't like this meeting was an ultimate secret, since they already had declared it to the rest of the nobles, but it seemed a respectful compromise, especially to the Dalish who still felt somewhat betrayed by Marcus' actions eight years ago, even if it was against another clan.

Thea Amell and Marian Hawke seemed distracted by each other for some reason; Marcus could not afford to have any disputes between his allies however. He signaled the whole group to stop just at the base of the hill.

"Okay, I can see that something is wrong, what is it?" He turned towards the others and looked to Thea.

"What? There is nothing wrong Marcus, why would you think that?" Thea's words accompanied each other in rapid succession, she averted her eyes from his stare.

"You lie like crap mage," Swiftrunner commented. "Even I could have done better than that. Should I kill her, my king?" Thea shrugged, taking a step away from the beast.

"No need Swiftrunner, if I killed all my allies based on them being nervous in my presence I wouldn't have any left."

"It's not you," Marian interrupted. "You do not know, but my mother's birth name was Amell, Thea and I are cousins…"

"I see, and why would you act like two frightened girls towards each other if you are family?"

"Well…" Marian hesitated.

"She's a mage murderer." Thea hissed, sighing in relief too, after getting to word her frustration.

"I was only protecting my home." Marian reflected, her voice was cool.

"They were the ones defending themselves! Do you think you are the only one Bethany talks to about such matters?" Thea stepped forward now, shoving Swiftrunner out of the way.

"Bethany recognized the corruption of her order when her first enchanter sacrificed a whole room full of mages to blood magic."

"He only did that because you cornered him unjustly!"

"Please, you don't just turn into a Harvester; he knew how to do that from years of experience."

Marcus eyes shifted between the two women, then finally settling on Marian when he recognized the name of the monster.

"A Harvester?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's an-"

"I know what it is, I thought I sealed the knowledge of those things away."

Marian and Marcus stared at each other for a moment, questions boiled up inside them both, but they were ultimately cut off by Sebastian who came in between.

"Maybe this is a discussion for another time," he said looking at both of them. "Both discussions…" He added, shifting his glare at Thea.

"You are right," Marcus mumbled. "I suggest you two settle your differences when we are done with this meeting, none of us can afford distrust in each other."

The two women nodded, giving each other a brief glance before following the Fereldan King.

* * *

They got to the top of the hill. The Moon was settled at the peak of its nightly patrol and lighted the hilltop up. They could see the shapes of their allies form as they got closer, once just by them they could finally see one person from the other.

"Merrill." Marian giggled as she sighted her old companion.

"Aneth ara lethallan" The skinny elf greeted and went in for a hug. They said no more but just smiled at one another. Sebastian and her also regarded each other with a respectful bow.

"I greet you all." Marcus started out; "Keeper Ilshae, Solan. Hunter Arianne. And you are the elf that recreated an Eluvian?" Now it was his turn to regard Merrill. She flinched a moment before looking up at him, he statured far above her; Marcus was tall even for a human with his amount of physical training.

"I… Yes, I build one from a shard I cleansed…" She stammered.

"Impressive, have you been able to go anywhere?"

"Go..?"

"Yes, go to somewhere, the Eluvian's are portals are they not?"

"I… Why do you think so? My research has only shown that it's a tool for communication?"

"No." Arianne commented. "The King and I witnessed a woman activate one of the originals and travel through it. I assumed you knew…"

"For another time." Marcus stopped them before the conversation got out of control, cutting Merrill off just as her eyes started to shine with excitement. He looked towards the dwarves now.

"Vartag, Jerrik." The two dwarves bowed when he mentioned them.

"King Bhelen sends his best wishes." Vartag announced and brought up a document. "I have Kardol's report on how the Fereldan Deep Roads deployment are doing as well. They have aided the Casteless strike teams and the Legion invaluably, almost as much as Branka's golems."

"How far do your territory reach yet?"

"We just retook Dace Thaig!" Jerrik commented enthusiastically. "I have lived there for a few weeks with the rebuilding teams."

"We need a concentrated effort to make it to Harrowmont thaig yet, but that is our goal." Vartag added.

"Good, Harrowmont Thaig is the one with an entrance to the surface by Montsimmard, yes?" Marcus asked.

"Ineed. Now to the business at hand."

"You're right," Marcus admitted and signaled for everyone to form a circle. He inhaled heavily before starting.

"You are all here today because you are my external allies. We need to settle an agreement before we all meet with the local nobility so we can present an agreed goal and gain their full support." He looked to the Dalish again. "We have been in disagreement with Dalish before here in Ferelden, but I hope we can make up for past instances and settle an alliance."

"Indeed," Ilshae commented. "We are grateful that you reported Velanna's death to us personally. Even though she murdered so many humans unjustly, she was still one of our clan."

"Arianne also told us of the aid in receiving the book for us." Solan added. "Whatever happened between Zathrian those many years ago, we will forgive it. Merrill has also explained that Marethari believed he was partly responsible."

"He started our curse." Swiftrunner's voice rumbled. "Our leader is a spirit that was sealed in a great wolf, whom preyed on a group of humans who had wronged him. We are their descendants. When the warden offered to help deliver Zathrian a ultimatum he chose to attack us, leaving us with no other choice than to defend ourselves."

The two keepers looked to one another, then to Merrill who nodded.

"I think it's the truth, at least I can sense the blood magic that sustains his being." She added to Swiftrunner's defense.

"We want Dalish archers in the army." Marcus stated. "And I would like to form a permanent alliance with the Dalish that join you as well.

"What will we get in return?" Solan asked. "Even if we can settle our differences, it will take a lot to convince others to join."

"Anora suggested that you might settle in the hinterlands of the Korcari Wilds, but I have another plan." He opened his backpack and grabbed a map, unfolding it and placing it on the ground. "The plan is that our forces are going to attack the Orlesians on a few different fronts. While the United Marches take the settlements farthest to the west and besiege every port in the country, we will guide our forces in two groups."

He looked to Vartag and Jerrik who were both following his finger across the map. "The main force is going to pass the Frostbacks two ways, by land and by water and attack Jader simultaneously. My Brother Fergus, Bann Teagan and our generals will lead that force. Meanwhile I will take Eric and the Fereldan Grey Wardens with my own forces in Gwaren with me through the Deep Roads, joining the Dwarves. We will force our way to Harrowmont Thaig and swarm Montsimmard from below."

"Then," he noted and tabbed on the map. "Then we will go along the Imperial Highway and take the other settlements. If we meet to heavy resistance we will avoid them momentarily. We will then arrive at Halamshiral." The name of the old Dalish capital piqued the two Keeper's attention. "Halamshiral is yours. My suggestion is that we settle a formal alliance there. The Dalish will be given the plains and the forests around Halamshiral and become a vassal state under Fereldan supervision and protection until you can take care of yourselves."

He looked to Swiftrunner.

"The Werewolves will be given the Arbor Wilds to the south where we will build a great wall to shield our peoples from one another. Help us take Orlais and we will build a peaceful coexistence in isolation from one another together."

Swiftrunner hummed at the words of a people-free region the werewolves could have all for themselves. He nodded to Marcus. "We have been allies for a long time my King, this will do nicely to finalize our deal." He noted.

Marcus now turned to Thea who had stood in the background with Marian and Sebastian the whole time.

"You have people trapped in Montsimmard, yes?" He asked.

"Huh?" Thea mumbled before realizing he spoke to her. "Uh, yeah. After the mage uprising in the White Spire in Val Royeaux the Orlesian Templars in Montsimmard locked their tower down."

"We will free them," Marcus assured her. "And then we will settle the second magi school in the Kingdom there. If we are successful then we will need more than one place to teach the mages how to control their powers."

Thea nodded.

"Everyone settled then?" He asked them all.

"I am more opportunistic about our success now." Sebastian noted and stood beside Marcus. "With the help of you," he looked to the Dalish, the Dwarves and Swiftrunner," with you no army can hope to match our combined force."

"The Dwarves stand with Ferelden." Vartag announced. "Our alliance has been most beneficial for both nations."

"The Werewolves consider Ferelden our savior nation; we will be honored to aid you in a final strike towards glory!" Swiftrunner chimed in.

"Then we are with you as well." Solan and Ilshae agreed. "We will call for a gathering and try to rally as many clans as possible. When we present them with the prospect of retaking Halamshiral many will agree."

"I will inform all adult mages of the school that we are going to war." Thea noted. "I will ask Irving if he can assist as well."

"Then it's settled." Marian joined in and looked to her cousin before joining Sebastian's side among her fellow royals. "We will take Orlais and try to lead Thedas towards a new direction."

Marcus smiled and dismissed them all. Now the only obstacle left was announcing the plan to the nobility of Ferelden and getting couriers to announce it to the populace…


End file.
